Chapter 1

My roommate and I pooled our money for a lottery ticket. To our astonishment, it won seven million yuan.

That night, she sent me six yuan.

“Babe, buying the ticket was my idea. I've paid back your share, so it has nothing to do with you anymore.”

I was so angry I laughed. Just as I was about to argue, I noticed that the little Guanyin statue I worshipped on my desk had suddenly lost an arm.

A broken arm on Guanyin meant terrible danger. I had to find a way to survive.

My face drained of color.

“I don't want the ticket! I don't want it!”

1

As soon as I saw the winning numbers, I raced back to the dorm in excitement.

“Feifei! That ticket we bought together won!”

I flung open the door and rushed to hug her, unable to contain my smile.

Seven million yuan.

Even after taxes, half of what remained would be enough for me to spend the rest of my life doing nothing.

My family was ordinary. My parents earned four or five thousand yuan a month. We weren't destitute, but we weren't well-off either.

I was a broke student struggling through each day, forever hunting discount vouchers to order food.

Now this prize could transform my family's life and make my dream of financial freedom come true.

“Seven million, Feifei! Seven million! I've never seen so much money in my life. Let's get ready. We can claim it tomorrow!”

I'd thought she'd be as happy as I was.

Instead, her smile looked unnatural. Almost stiff.

Then she pushed me away, putting some distance between us.

Qiao Feifei sat down, tapped her phone a few times, and said, “Babe, I was just going to talk to you about this.”

A transfer notification arrived on my phone.

I opened WeChat.

She'd sent me six yuan.

Before I could make sense of it, she spoke.

“Remember when we were shopping that day? I was the one who suddenly suggested buying a ticket. I picked the shop too. You chose the numbers, but without my suggestion, we wouldn't have bought it. Right?”

I nodded, giggling behind my hand, still unaware anything was wrong.

“Of course! I owe you for suggesting it!”

“So, morally and reasonably, the ticket should belong to me. But since you did contribute, I've sent your six yuan back.”

Only then did I sense something was wrong.

The other roommates, who had been quietly envying me, all understood at once.

My expression turned ugly. She almost made me laugh with anger.

I folded my arms.

“Qiao Feifei, are you trying to buy out my share of a seven-million-yuan ticket for six yuan?”

Her calm vanished. Her voice rose.

“What do you mean? Without my idea, do you think we'd have come across it? And didn't I return your six yuan? You're making it sound like I'm taking advantage!”

The room became explosive, poised to blow at a touch.

Our roommates exchanged looks, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.

My face flushed with anger.

“Do I look like I need your six yuan? Without my six yuan in the first place, you couldn't have bought it! What are you barking about?”

Hands on her hips, she dropped her usual gentle mask entirely.

“Xu Jia, how did I never notice how selfish you are? I say the ticket is mine, so it's mine. Take the six yuan or leave it.”

One roommate couldn't stand it anymore.

“Feifei, I think… shouldn't you split it? Xu Jia paid for it too…”

“Shut up! Who asked you?”

Feifei glared at her.

Just as I was about to argue again, a sharp crack sounded beside me.

I turned toward my desk.

The Guanyin statue I regularly worshipped.

One arm had broken off.

It lay on the desk. The little Guanyin's eyes were still tightly shut.

Fear drained the blood from my face. Trembling, I backed away several steps.

“I don't want the ticket! I don't want it!”

2

Delighted that I'd finally given in, she still wouldn't leave it alone.

“What do you mean, you don't want it? It was mine to begin with, okay? Don't act like you're giving me charity.”

I spoke seriously.

“For the sake of having been roommates, I'm warning you. Don't keep that ticket either. Burn it. Quickly.”

Not only Feifei but all the others looked at me strangely.

“Get lost! Who are you to order me around? It's my ticket. I'll do what I like with it!”

“It's money that buys a life!” I shouted. “You may live to collect it, but you won't live to spend it. You'll die!”

The others objected one after another.

“Xu Jia, it's seven million. How can you just give it up? Even if you don't want it, you shouldn't say things like that.”

Zhang Jingqi, who had never got along with me, snorted.

“Stop pretending. You're jealous she has the ticket, aren't you? Money that buys a life? That statue on your desk looks like a cheap street-stall trinket. If it broke, that's poor quality.”

“You know you can't get the ticket, so you've made up a curse and wished her dead. I never knew you were so vicious.”

With someone backing her, Feifei grew more arrogant. She pulled Jingqi away, leaving one last remark.

“Curse me, would you? You're destined to be poor forever!”

I wasn't angry.

I turned to clear the broken porcelain from my desk first.

The little statue had rounded, gentle features, half-closed eyes, and a faint smile, as though gazing compassionately on all living beings.

But the arm once extended before its chest lay shattered on the floor. It looked strangely distorted and eerie.

There was a custom in my hometown.

When children came of age, each underwent a temple ritual and accepted Guanyin as a spiritual foster mother.

The little consecrated statue had to be kept with them. Reverence for her had to be maintained at all times.

Merciful Guanyin could foresee terrible disasters.

Anything unusual about the statue was a warning.

But a broken arm meant something so dreadful that survival itself was at stake.

It meant even Guanyin couldn't stop this calamity. She could only sever an arm to save herself and leave, abandoning the faithful.

There would be no Guanyin inside that statue anymore. Only an empty shell.

To worship a new one, we had to return home and ask for another.

Since taking mine away from home, I'd never seen anything unusual happen to it.

Now, at the very first sign, its arm had broken.

I was terrified.

I hurriedly called my parents. Their voices shook with fear as they repeatedly told me to be especially careful.

When I told them what Feifei had done, they were so angry they nearly fainted. They cursed her for not knowing what was good for her and seeking her own death.

Ignoring the others' strange looks, I poured out my complaints to my parents.

After hanging up, I told my roommates, “Whatever you do, don't accept her money. If you do, you'll die.”

They looked at one another, then all nodded.

That night, Feifei and Jingqi didn't return. They rented a hotel room together.

I shook my head and put the statue away carefully. Next time I went home, I'd ask for another.

3

Feifei was already a moderately well-known online beauty.

That very night, she began streaming from the hotel, showing off her seven-million-yuan win.

The viewers were green with envy. Comments and virtual gifts filled the screen.

Thanks to defending her against me, Jingqi had become her little assistant in a single leap.

For a time, the two of them were everywhere.

Feifei even twisted the story of our shared purchase into a joke for her audience.

Instead of pooling our money, I had apparently only accompanied her to the lottery shop.

Propping her face on one hand, she said disdainfully, “Girls, can anyone explain my roommate? We were just shopping together, but after I bought a winning ticket, she demanded a cut. Sorry, I'm not obliged to support an overgrown baby of a roommate.

“I'll donate to help stray animals. I'm certainly not sharing with her. Ha!”

The comments instantly backed her.

【She's obviously jealous. You're not obliged to give charity to poor people.】

【Supporting our beautiful, kind streamer! Thank you on behalf of all the stray cats and dogs!】

【I can't stand roommates like that. Ever heard of boundaries? Not everyone has to indulge her, okay?】

Abuse followed abuse.

The story spread to the campus forum. Soon, someone identified me as the girl fighting Feifei over the ticket.

After one night's sleep, I woke to discover I'd been doxxed.

Harassing calls came nonstop. My messages and inboxes on short-video platforms were bombarded.

Overnight, my entire family and I had been viciously abused.

A quick search told me what had happened.

Rage surged up.

Then I calmed myself.

I had to stay calm.

Suppressing my anger, I called Feifei.

Jingqi answered instead.

The moment the call connected, she sneered, “What? Still planning to go with her to collect the prize?”

“If you two want to die, I won't stop you. But leave me out of it. Do you know how much online abuse I'm getting because of you?”

“Go after whoever's abusing you. Why call me? I haven't insulted you. Take it up with the people responsible. Why get angry at me?”

Fine.

I really couldn't communicate with this species.

I held back my fury and spoke calmly.

“One last warning. Burn the ticket. Don't spend any of its money.

“Otherwise, you'll regret it for the rest of your lives. You've provoked something you can't afford to provoke.”

“What? Tell us. Go on! Why stop now? What happens if we spend it? A ghost turns up at our door? Ha ha!”

I lowered my voice.

“Worse than a ghost.”